


Fighting

by luoup (ravenic)



Series: Team the Best Team [Platonic VLD Week 2.0] [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Paladin Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-07
Updated: 2018-08-07
Packaged: 2019-06-24 03:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15621954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenic/pseuds/luoup
Summary: Day 6 Prompt 1: FightingFighting as a unit





	Fighting

**Author's Note:**

> so. uh. i realized that i never got the last few prompts of vld platonic week 2 posted. a year after the event. sorry? so i’m posting them now. this one and traditions especially fought me, for reasons i do not know. so they’re both short and bleh but i wanted to feel complete so here’s some old stuff kthxbye
> 
> a concept that i like a lot, written very badly. sorry.

They weren’t soldiers.  They were children – young adults, at best.  But even that was almost a misrepresentation.  It pushed away the fact that they were, all of them, _so young_.  Not truly grown-up, carrying the weight of the universe on their shoulders.  They weren’t soldiers, but they are now. 

Shiro was called the Champion, was one of the most feared fighters in the Empire.  But he had never wanted to fight or kill.  All he’d wanted, an excited boy staring out the window at the distant stars, was to explore the universe.  Lance’s accuracy with a rifle was a blessing and a curse – he was vital to the team, just as important as any of the others.  But he wasn’t a kid shooting cans off a fence.  He was a sniper in a war, and not all his targets were robots.  Fighting came naturally to Keith, but he had never wanted to kill like this.  But he was the Sword, now, whether he wanted to fight or not.  Pidge was a fighter too, fighting dirty because she fought to win.  A tiny unexpected warrior, driven by a desperation to protect, no matter how uneven the odds (Pidge knew the math, and knew that the fight had to go on despite what her calculations said).  Hunk, for all his size and power, was not a warrior.  Rather: he did not want to be a warrior.  But there was no choice, now, and he would rather fight than let his friends be hurt.  He was a Leg, a shield, but his Bayard had the most sheer destructive power of all of them and it was _terrifying_. 

They weren’t soldiers – no, they _shouldn’t have to be_ soldiers.  But there wasn’t a choice.  They were _children,_ all of them, too young for this, but there was no one else.  They are Paladins now. 

* * *

It is the kind of fight where all of Voltron’s unfortunately small forces are on the ground.  The planet is a Galra-run mine mostly managed by robots because of the nature of the ore being extracted, with few living beings on it.  The computers likely hold important data on the Empire’s mining network, including valuable locations and prisoner records, and so the Paladins strike. 

They have been Voltron for a while, and it shows.  Shiro doesn’t waste time checking behind himself for enemies, because he knows Lance is watching his back.   When they run into a surprise patrol, Keith and Pidge fight seamlessly, two close-quarters warriors who don’t get in each other’s way and fill in each gap of the other.  Together the Arms flawlessly take down all the sentries while Hunk gets the door open.  The Yellow Paladin focuses only on his task, certain in the knowledge that his companions would guard him while he works.   It’s done quickly. 

Inside, Pidge goes to work on the computer bank.  Hunk tears the rest of the room apart, seeking anything important or useful or just bad for the Galra if damaged or lost, Shiro at his side.  Keith stands near the door, on guard for any threat against his team.  Of course, any threat would have to get past Lance first.  The Blue Paladin’s nest is somewhere outside the computer room, hidden somewhere high in the scaffolding, and his sharp eyes are sure to find anyone trying to get in long before they get close. 

Pidge finds what she needed quickly, taking everything that was useful and corrupting the rest of the data, virus spreading like poison ivy through the system.  The others know she’s done before she even steps away from the center, and they’re all on their way out the door with no words exchanged.  Hunk has a handful of datapads, able to know that the symbols are on them are important despite being unable to read them.  Shiro knows the marks, so he does too.  Shiro’s found a few sets of blueprints, and although he knows nothing of engineering he does know that Hunk will want to look at these later. 

Lance meets them in the hallway.  No one shows up to try to stop them as they leave.  The Black Lion flies away into the darkness of space, and no ships follow, no laser cannons fire.  They return to the Castle of Lions with only the distant stars for company.  The adrenaline fades, but the bond does not. 

Nobody can touch them.  Lance is far but always near, a hidden angel keeping the enemy at bay.  Anyone who gets past the deadly rain is faced with Hunk, a massive warrior with an even bigger gun.  Keith and Pidge are ferocious, dangerous fighters.  He has force and skill guiding his blade, and she is too fast to touch, with the bite of lightning to back her up.  Shiro had earned the title of Champion against his will, but the skill is still there.  He’s even stronger now – a team at his back, and now he had something to fight for. 

They fight as a unit, even when the Lions are not melded into one form, even when the Paladins are far from their ships.  This is Voltron, and they fight as one. 


End file.
